Wrecking and construction car for railroads



4 Sheets-Sheet 1 (No Model.)

0R RAILROAISSF Patented Jan. 24, 1882.

(No Model.)

WREGKING AND GONSTRUOTION CAR FOR RAILROADS. No. 252,672. Patented Jan. 24,1882.

v I 4Sheets-Sheet 2. L; K. JEWBTT.

(No Model.) I 4 8heets-8heet 3.

\ L. K. JEWETT.

WR EGKING AND CONSTRUCTION CAR FOR RAILROADS. No. 252,672. Patented Jan. 24,1882.

(NmModeL) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4. L. K. JEWBTT.

WREGKING AND CONSTRUCTION CAR FOR RAILROADS. Q No. 252,672. Patented Jan. 24,1882.

as I prefer, mounted directly on a turn-table carried by the said our, such construction on- .-.abling metonse a mast longer than would be possible were the said must always held in Q3 i step, and the turn-table 1s braced or secured have been derailed, and also for handling heavy f As soon as the car is brought in position near s is io be used, thecar is locked to the track, its 1 "frame is braced so that it cannot sag or tip, a

into position, lilltlllllSl'ilS released, turned into be lifted from a ditch up a steep embankment.

rates LUTHER KJEWETT, 0F FITGHBURG, MASSACHUSETTS.

WREGKlNG ANDCONSTRUQ TION CAR FOR RAILROADS.

SFEGIFlCATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 252,672, dated January 24,1882.

Application filcd October 31, 1881. (No model.) i

To all whom it may concern Be it known that l, LUTHER K. Jiuwe'r'r, of Fitchburg, county of Worcester, State of Mas s'aehusetts, have invented an improvement in Wrecking and Construction Cars for Railroad Work, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification. I

Thisinvention has for its object the construction of a car for wrecking or lifting cars which articles in railroad construction.

, In this my invention I have provided a car "with a tipping counterbalanced mast and connected boom, and have shown the said mast,

upright position, for when the Wrecking'car is being moved on the track the mast is turned down in nearly horizontal position, thus ensibling the car to readily pass under bridges.

's' wre'cls, or on a part of the track when the car suitable strong step for the mast is brought upright position with its lower end on the said so th t it has only a rotating movement. In the li 'ndition the car is in readiness to have ,hoin turned down"? and, with the usual rope ,chains, and grapp ing hooks, be used to lift into position the car to be handled. in connection with the cool have'provided a series of braces to afford additional strength and stability to the car when awrecked car is to Figure i represents in side elevation a car. embodying my in ventlon as it will appear when running on the track, the dotted lines, however, showing the mast elevated and boom turned out, the said figure also showing in dotted lines the leveling-blocks, which will be laid Fig. 3 is atop view of Fig. 2; Figs. 4 and 5, partial cross-sections of the car, the parts being enlarged and in differentposition of adjustment; Fig. 6, a top view of the step for the mast and the step-sill; Fig. 7, a section of Fig. 6; Fig. 8, a partial end view, showing the car as braced to take a wrecked car from a ditch at the left; and Fig. 9,3 side elevation thereof, the mast and boom being, however, omitted.

Thorar-hody A, of suitable shape to support the working parts, is mounted on suitable trucks, not necessaq to be described, which run on the track as usual. The cur-body, in practice about twenty feet long, is provided sul-istantially at its center with a strong ring, I), having journals 2, mounted in bearings a held on the side sills of the car, the central part of the car below and about the said ring being open. This ring at its front and rear sides has flanges (6, (shown clearly in Fig. 2,) under which may be moved the ring-timbers u when it is desired to hold the ring so that it cannot tip or turn on its journals, it being necessary to hold the ring firmly when, the car is being used to lift a. wrecked ear. \Vhen the ear is being run on the track and the mast I1 is turned down, as in Fig. 1, the ring-timbers are removed from below the llangesoftheringa, permitting the ring to he tipped up at one end, as shown. serves as a track for the anti-friction wheeled ring 0, (shown clearly in Fig. 2.) which is illterposed between the l urn-table 1 and the ring-a, the wheeled ring 0 sustaining the turn-tahle'on the ring a, permitting the turn-table to be easily moved to enable the boom b of the must to be projected in any desired direction from the carA. These ringtimbersa are shown as pro vided with worm-gears a, which engage each with the tcethot' a worm-rack, such as shown at a. By turning the worm-gears in one oi the other direction, their teeth acting on the said rack, the ring-timbers maybe moved under or from under the ringa. Each timber will have two gears, a and each gear will have on its shaft achain-wheel, c to receive a suitable chain, rope, or cord connected with a shalt, a which, when rotated in one or the other direction, will move the chain or cord and turn the Worm-gear simultaneously in the proper direction to move the ring-timbers in thedirectinn The top of this ring, made flat,-

' rope or chain, It, on a drum as described,

lower .to grapple a car or car-body a ttat car on the track ready desired. 'lheturu-table at its lower side has therewith below the step-sill, so that when it a depending the. ring 1!.

annular collar, which tits inside The mast bis rigidly con nected with the turn,-

table (I, and at its lower end is provided with a connected counterbalancing-upright, I)", in practice of several tons Thelowerendof this weigl b' 'serves as the foot for the upright mast, and-in practice will be made to rest upon the step 0, as shown in Fig. 4.

The step 0 is shown as provided with journals 4, (see Fig-1L which rest upon a stepbearing, 0 made adjustable vertically at each end withrelation to the step-sill c by means of screws e, and made horizontally adjustable by means of the screws 0'. The step-sill e is suitably secured to the track so thatit cannot move,and by adjusting the screws c the step 0 maybe more or less raised to cause it to receive and sustain more 0." less of the weig-htof the mast and turn-table.

To'prevent the mast from being tipped out of vertical position I have provided it, at its end, with a locking deyice, f, (shown in Fig. 2.)as apin' connected with an arm of a rock-shatt,f-, anotherarm, 5, ot' the said rockshat't being joined with a link or rod,j'", extended above the turn table, to thus permit the locking, device to be lifted or moved at the proper times.

The mast has iivotcd [1)0l] ita boom I) v which maybe boom will be.

of any usual construction. This raised and lowered through a or windlass, It", Suitable other attached, as usual, boom to be connected tothe car tob'clit'tcd. Supportingthemast, on the car so that it may be turned or tipped down enables me to usea longmast, one which could not be used it connected withand extended-rigidly above the car-body, for when turned down it does not interfere with the passage of the car under bridges. The mast b is made of such length as to permit me I and readily-lift it;

at one operation high enough to be swung onto to be taken. away. The end and side sills ot'thecar A have conuec ted with them a series ot" jack-screws, g h z'j. The screws 9 are pivoted to the corners of the car, and those It ashort distance therefrom on the side sills. These screws 1 ii are made to rest upon the leveling-blocks g, laid upon the ties g, outside/the rails g, the said leveling-blocks being placed in position .when the car is brought to rest, the serewsg It being then turned in to prop or steady the car, so that it cannot tip or sag. The screws iare connected with the side sills of the car near their centers, and act upon thcends of the step-sill c, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, to conoperated in any usual manner. chains and grapples will be to theendotthe orotherthing line the step-sill to the track and prevent the is desired to run the car on the track the said screws may be moved to lift the step-sill from contact with and above the track, the step-sill being thus permanently connected with the car. \Vhh a heavy car at the side ota track in a ditch or down an embankment, the wrecking-ear must t'requentlybe braced laterally, or at its side nextthe wreck. To do this effectually the car has as part of its equipment a ground timber, I. (Shown .in Figs. 8 and 9.) Upon this is mounted-a brace, 1 preferably made extensible in the direction ot'its length. This brace I has at its top guides m, which receive and hold av track -timbcr, m", which is long enough to extend. beyond the opposite side of-the track, as in Ft 8, where it and another like track-timber restingoua like brace, l", are joined by nieausof'a coupling, 112 These track .-qt-imbers n", at their under sides, are provided with suitable iae'tal chairs to fit over andernbrace the tracks. The lower ends of the braces I each have a jack-screw, l, by which to lit't them and the track-timtiers supported by them to their proper level, and the braces also have locking-pins Z to prevent lateral movement. ff. The coupling m for the end of the track- 5 timbers next the wreck supports ajack-screw; 'u, the upper end of which comes in contact with a post, a, havinga head, a, and ashoulder, n, the latter engaging the under side of the side sill of the case, so that as the jack he screw it is turned it lifts and at the sameitinte presses the post against the side of the car. t

The provision of side braces for the car, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, insures the greatest. steadiness for and enables the car to be maim tained securely in position on the track, notj' -withstandi'ng'theboomis projected at right angles fronrthe car, and strain at such time ow the boom tends to turn the car over. Vere it not for these side braces a heavy weight or body could not be lit'ted from a ditch at the side-ot' the car by means of a single car. The braces increase the efliciency of the car ovlr fourfold, as '-I have found in practice. The jack-screw a maybe used without the track I timbers and braces, the coupling in then rest ing on any suitable flat timber.

The step-sill 0* may be braced laterally by the braces 12, the'ends of which are guided ota pins 11 so that the braces can rise and fall with the step-sill as it is raised and lowered'r The mast, when turned down as in fulllinemt Fig-f1, by the employment of suitable tackle, will be lockediu such position in any suitable way-as, for instance, the pin f may be ma -to rest on the top ot'the cross-beam r of the c I claim- 1. The combination, with the car, of a pif oted mast provided with a boom, counterbai anced mast b 1;, provided with a pivoted boom, :30

l l t b, the mast being adapted to be turned down nearly horizontally when the car is to be rain on the track, substantially as described..

2. The car and the weighted or countet V oted ring to support the 20 jack-screws g,

balanced mast and its turn-table, combined with the pivoted ring a, substantially as described.

3. The car and the pivoted ring a to support the mast, combined with the ring-timbers to lock the ring}, substantially as described,when the mast is to be retained in upright position.

4. The car and counterbalanced mast, pivmast, and the stepsill, combined with" a locking device toengage the lower end of the mast with the step-sill, substantially as described.

5. The car and its attached rack a and the pivoted ring a, combined withthe ring-timbers, their worm-gears, and the cords or chains 0011- nected with the shaft of the worm-gearsto operate them and the ring-timbers, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the car, of the pivoted to the corners of the car, substantially as described.

7. The combination, with the car, of the jack-screws g h, pivoted thereto, substantially as described.

8. The combination, with the car and its pivoted jack-screws, of the leveling-blocks g,

adapted to be sustained by the ties, substantially as describe 9. The car and turn-table and tipping mast, combined with the step-sill, step thereon, and 0 means, substantially as described, to adjust, the step on the step-sill.

10. Theear, turn-table, and tipping mast-,, combined-with the step, stop-sill, and jackscrews connected with the car and with the 5 step-sill, to operate substantially as described.

11. The car,its tipping mast, and boom combined with the track-timbers m. post, M, and jack-screw n, to operate substantially as described. v

12. The car, its tipping 'mast, boom. and turn table, combined with the track-timbers m braces 1 and suitable screws to hold the said braces and car in proper position, sub stantially as described. f

;In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. LUTHER K. JEWETT.

' Witnesses:

J os. P. L ERMORE, A. A. SIGsToN. 

